This one may be long but it's not boring. It has a little bit of everythiing and is a genre mash up. I enjoyed the magic aspect of it. It was dark but also humorous at times, which is a hard balance to make.

“To fight devils, one must be prepared to use devils.”

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and Lord Grimdark absolutely blew me away! If you’ve read from Abercrombie before this one has his same wit, dark themes, and morally grey (morally black really) characters, but this one brings in more of a fantastical element than I have read from before (at least in his first law series) and I LOVED IT.

PLOT: A fast paced, adventure story that had me turning the pages faster than I could read them. It was engaging, and I never knew what the hell was going to happen next. Knowing Abercrombie, when you think things have gone too far, you haven’t even seen the beginning of what he’s about to put his characters through. He builds his world through our characters adventure, and I love seeing the different perspectives, from those good, bad, religious, damned- it’s a creative way to expand the story.

CHARACTERS: Abercrombie writes some of the best characters in fantasy. His ability to weave the story and integrate it with character development is one that is so seamless, it has me excited for slow moments in the story, because it means I learn more about a character in a brutal, witty and clever way. I hate his ability to make me love characters I REALLY shouldn’t. This is the most chaotic found-family ever but they captured my heart, before slicing it in half.

WRITING: Abercrombie’s dark witty humor lands perfectly in this book. He writes banter between his characters so well, and I was laughing out loud, throwing my head back and groaning, and saying, “classic Abercrombie”. The man knows how to take it too far.

I can’t recommend this book enough! If it’s your first Abercrombie just know, you’re not going to leave this book feeling those warm fuzzy feelings of hope. That’s not how grimdark fantasy works. But you’ll leave laughing, you’ll leave having met some of your favorite characters of all time, and the story, world, and characters he weaves will stick with you!

Thank you to Joe Abercrombie and @torbooks for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

A pretty good new novel from Joe Abercrombie. It contains much of what we've come to expect from the author - great characters, visceral action (often graphically described), and a great dose of humour.

I found the world building somewhat well-done, quite interesting, but also a bit odd (it's basically the real world, but almost everything is different? Strange choice.). The level of quippage was too high - it felt like early Pratchett, but without the quiet wit/intelligence that I might have expected.

Fans of Abercrombie's previous novels (especially the First Law books) will find plenty to like, here. I think I still prefer the First Law series to what this has set up, but I'm nevertheless still interested in reading the next one.

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
I am very sad to report that this book was a DNF for me.
In The Devils, you follow Alex, who has just learned she is a long-lost princess and must travel to reclaim her throne. Accompanying Alex is a ragtag group of devilish creatures who must help her reach her destination.
What I did like about this book was the characters. I thought they were funny, and I wanted to get to know them on this journey. What I didn’t like, though, was that this book was more character-focused and less plot-heavy. If you know me…you know I’m more of a plot reader.
What I found myself really struggling with was the writing style of this book. I just didn’t connect with it. Certain phrases and plot points were reused to the point where I would get confused on what was happening and where I was in the book each night when I picked it up. I also felt like at times some of the characters just disappeared and got no screen time. (Literally thought I missed one of the characters death at one point because it had gone so long without mentioning him.)
Overall, I wish I had more positive things to say about this book. I had really high expectations for it and was fully expecting it to become one of my favorites. I am hoping that someday it will call my name, and I’ll pick it up and have a more positive reading experience.
I do want to give the publisher a huge thanks for sending me a physical copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I think this has to be one of the most stunning books I own.

Alex is a thief. But she's also Princess Alexia Pyrogennetos, daughter to Empress Irene and true heir to the Serpent Throne of Troy. Her uncle is prepared to restore her to the throne with the help of Her Holiness the Pope, Benedica the First, the Child Pope... and a motley band including a cardinal, a monk, an elf, a knight Templar, and a werewolf.

It's been about a decade since I last read Joe Abercrombie, though not entirely intentionally. When an opportunity for an ALC of The Devils became available, I jumped at the chance to pick up his writing again. His writing is snarky, dark, and irreverent, with a voice I enjoy a lot. You need to settle into his pacing though, as this is a long book at 560 pages/26 hours, with the first 35% as largely setup and worldbuilding before the plot picks up. I didn't mind the setup phase as his writing is enjoyable - he avoids info-dumping and establishes his characters and the theological schism of the backbone of the plot - but it takes time for the overarching plot to get moving.

This is a book for lovers of epic fantasy and complex political and theological plots. The theology is somewhat familiar, based on the schism between Western and Eastern Christianity, but emphasizes the political power of medieval religions rather than specific doctrine.

I’m one of those rare modern fantasy readers who HASN’T already read a Joe Abercrombie book it seems. But rather than start with one of his trilogies, I was excited to see that he was releasing a new book/series this spring, thus giving me a great entry point!

I’m on the record with how difficult I believe it is to write ensemble casts in these sorts of books. Nailing down one unique character with a compelling arc and clear point of view is difficult enough. Now do it multiple times! But here Abercrombie illustrates how well a properly portrayed and established ensemble can elevate a fairly simple story to something much more! At its core, this is a fairly standard questing fantasy, with our group travelling the continent to reach a defined point, meeting enemies along the way. What carries it, however, is this amazing group of characters who make up our little troupe.

The simplest way to put it, perhaps, is this is essentially the epic fantasy version of “Suicide Squad.” Not all of our characters are outright villains, but many of them have some level of darkness to their past. By slowly adding layers to these characters, the author neatly side steps the pitfall of these characters falling into overt fantasy stereotypes. Something that would be all too easy when you have a cast made of up werewolves, elves, undying knights, vampires, snarky thieves, etc. All the good stuff us fantasy readers are all too familiar with! However, here, each goes beyond many of the initial assumptions brought in by the sort of fantasy creatures/characters they are.

Our werewolf is a Viking who relies on her poor memory to cope with the death of her friends, often at her own hands. Our elf is just misunderstood, her ability to turn invisible mirroring how she feels in the group itself. Our sorcerer, ahem, “magician” just wants out of this whole freak show, sure that he is more powerful than everyone around him. And, of course, our thief is a con artist now caught up in a con that has gotten out of control! That’s only touching on some members of the cast! Throughout it all, whenever it felt like the characters were getting a bit lost in the extreme violence on the page or even some of the humor, Abercrombie always managed to pull it back to a humanizing moment, dealing with themes regarding penitence, grief, and what we owe one another.

Speaking of violence and humor, as I said, I haven’t read this author’s work before, but I do know that he is known for his dark fantasy. So I went in with an expectation of reading a grimdark fantasy novel, even though those are not necessarily my favorite of the fantasy subgenres. However, I wasn’t expecting just how funny this book was! Even in the midst of some of the most gruesome fight scenes that I’ve come across, I often found myself chuckling out loud. I will say that while most of the humor hit home for me, I did find a bit too much emphasis on bodily function humor. Perhaps this just comes from living in a household with three boys (my husband and two sons), but I only have so much tolerance or interest in reading jokes about farts, even if they’re incredibly well written.

Overall, I really loved this book! It was action-packed, hilarious, and full of a cast of characters of which I could never quite settle on a favorite! It’s truly a testament of the author’s steadiness at the wheel when I was only ever excited to see what the next character had to say! It’s hard to remember a book where I didn’t have at least one dud POV character. But here, they were all excellent! If I had to pick favorites, perhaps Vigga (werewolf) and Balthazar (sorcerer/magician) might come out on top. But honestly, they were all great. If you enjoy epic fantasy, definitely give this one a shot! I will only warn that it is definitely high on the violence, but I think the excellent humor balances this out well.

Rating 9: How to write “grimdark fantasy” without all of the “grim.” Abercrombie hits it out of the park with this one!

Review will go live on The Library Ladies on May 31

Joe Abercrombie recently became one of my favourite authors (just after I finished his First Law series last year), so his most recent book, The Devils (the start of a brand-new series), has been at the top of my list for my most anticipated releases this year (also I got an ARC so I got to start reading it a couple of weeks before it’s officially released, yay! (but obligatory this didn’t affect the contents of this review, etc.)).

The book is set in a fantastical medieval Europe with a slightly different history to our own, where the Trojans didn’t lose the Trojan war, Carthage was the dominant ancient Empire over Rome, and God had a daughter instead of a son (there’s more differences, which the history nerd in me loved catching the references to, but these were the most immediately obvious). A branch of the Church, the Chapel of Holy Expediency, employs (aka the 10 year old girl Pope sorcerously compels them) a group of unsavory characters (a reluctant monk, a Viking werewolf, an undead crusader, a very polite vampire, Europe’s third-best necromancer (or second, depending on who you ask), an invisible elf, and a woman with a bunch of knives and an alarming number of previous professions) to escort a long-lost princess across the continent to reclaim her mother’s throne and become Empress of Troy while protecting her from her cousins (and rivals to the crown).

This was probably the funniest Joe Abercrombie book so far (tonally, it’s most similar to Best Served Cold). The characters are fantastic, and there’s lots of quippy one-liners that had me giggling. It’s also probably the least dark of his work—there’s plenty of violence and bad things happening, but it doesn’t have the same sort of bleak tone as the previous books. I actually love bleakness, so this wasn’t my favourite of his books, but I still enjoyed it a great deal. My understanding is that this is the first book of a new series, so I’m excited to see where it goes next.

This book delivers everything. Abercrombie is a force in the genre and you can tell he delivers on this like the pro he is. I love the large cast of characters, plot twists, and even humor!

This was like one big D&D campaign so you know I ATE IT UP!!

Having never read Joe Abercrombie before but being entirely intrigued by the premise, I was a little nervous going in because I don’t really read “old man fantasy.” This was truly so unlike anything else I’ve read before in a positive way! It didn’t feel too difficult to follow or too heavy, but it toed this interesting line of comedic and dark in a way that really pulled you in.

The world building is a really cool feature in this one because it is an alternate universe where Jesus was a woman so all the religious leaders of the Church of the West were women too. So I had background to go with as it is a period of history that I’m familiar with (the Schism) but turned it on its head in a way that felt fresh.

But where this book really shines is in its characters. Truly a ragtag group of “Devils” that are bound by the ten year old Pope to deliver Princess Alexia to the throne in Troy. We have a bloodthirsty Viking-turned werewolf, an immortal cursed knight, a charismatic vampire, a pompous necromancer, an invisible elf, a jack of ALL trades, and a reluctant priest. I was pulled in by the group and found myself really rooting for their success. We are taken on a wild adventure as we get to learn the depth and intricacies of these characters, I found myself getting emotional at the end thinking about their individual journeys. Jakob (our cursed knight) made me cry more than once.

I also thought this was a standalone up until the tail end of the book and to my pleasant surprise, we are going to get another story with these characters! I’m really excited (and so sad) to see where they are whisked off to next.

What a fast-paced witty book! There’s a large cast of characters and very Six Of Crows in style. The action was often humorous. Love the band of misfits.

I think I made a mistake by letting this be my first book my Mr. Abercrombie. I’ve been dying to read a book of his for YEARS and was super stoked to be approved for the ARC on NetGalley, but I probably should’ve started with his already-published works.
While I LOVE crass and dry AND dark humor, this book is really over saturated with all of the above and then some. It started out pretty enjoyable and funny, but the jokes all ran along the same vein and there was an air of comedy through the whole book. So, if you love action-comedies, you’ll probably eat this up.
Unfortunately, I was expecting far more politics and less gut-spillage— I’m an avid gore reader, and even the fights got tedious and boring— as well as more character development. Some characters definitely went through an evolution, but most did not.
I think he did great at giving each character their own personality and writing in multiple POV’s (which I normally don’t like but worked well with the array of characters we have here). I also think his writing style was excellent and very suited for fantasy.
I think this was a fantastically written action fantasy that was mostly vibes and very little plot with brainless action scenes and some dark humor throughout, unfortunately I do not think I was the target audience for this one.

My chief reaction to reading this book was, “Wow, Joe Abercrombie has grown up.”

(context: I read and enjoyed the First Law books up through *Red Country*. Never read the Age of Madness or Shattered Sea trilogies)

My one-sentence description of this book (first in a new series) would be “Joe Abercrombie’s take on the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.” The book begins with Brother Diaz, a monk from a Spanish monastery, summoned to the Holy City to meet the Pope. Her Holiness, it turns out, is too busy for such matters (and a 10 year old girl besides), so he actually meets with a senior Cardinal. She tells him he’s been appointed vicar of the Thirteenth Chapel in the Celestial Palace. But wait, says Brother Diaz: aren’t there only twelve chapels, reflecting the Twelve Virtues?

And thus we meet the Chapel of Holy Expediency. The Church might be of God, but it’s also of the world, and sometimes certain compromises have to be made to accomplish God’s will. Brother Diaz’s charges are a bunch of condemned enemies of God, bound to serve His Church when the situation requires. They include a vampire, a werewolf, a necromancer, an elf (the elves having driven back several Crusades against them in the centuries since they seized the Holy Land), a general purpose rogue, and a knight cursed with immortality.

While Brother Diaz is meeting his congregation, we readers are meeting Alex. A Holy City street urchin and a thief (but not a particularly good one), she is rescued from some thugs by a passing nobleman who recognizes something in the shape of her face, and in the birthmark under her ear. Alex, it turns out, is none other than Princess Alexia Pyrogennetos, long-lost daughter of the beloved Empress Irene, rightful heir to the Serpent Throne of Troy, capital of the Empire of the East, Europe’s unconquerable bulwark against the elven hordes. But she’s got to get there first. Her usurping sorceress aunt might be dead, but she left four sons behind who will all no doubt be very eager to meet their cousin. Which means she needs an escort. And that’s where the Chapel of Holy Expediency comes in.

This has everything I would expect from Abercrombie. A fast pace, exciting twists and turns, graphic violence. Lots of humor which is very much *not* going to be to everyone’s taste, but is to mine, so I was laughing out loud all through this - something not many books are able to get me to do.

So, referring back to the beginning of this review, why did I say that Abercrombie has “grown up”? The First Law books were *relentlessly* nihilistic. Nothing mattered, everyone was a shitty person doing shitty things for shitty reasons, any personal growth that happened was inevitably followed by a return to shitty, shitty form. I liked the First Law books a good bit, particularly the standalones, but they were also, in a sense, predictable. Abercrombie’s version of Chekov’s Gun might well have been “if in act one you have a puppy, by the last act it must get kicked.” This doesn’t apply to *The Devils*. It’s still a grimdark book, with grimdark sensibilities, but it also recognizes that not everything, everywhere, is shitty all the time. People try to do good things because they’re the right thing, and sometimes they succeed. People strive and grow, and sometimes they come out better for it. Less edgy, but more realistic and ultimately much more satisfying.

My only real complaint about this book is the worldbuilding. It needed to pick a lane. Either take (to steal a phrase from Guy Gavriel Kay) “a quarter turn to the fantastic” and have things be fantasy but clearly recognizable in their real world inspirations, or make it an alt-history where things are *mostly* the same but with identifiable differences. This alternated between the two, and it took me a long time as a reader to find my footing.

But that’s a relatively minor complaint. I had decided after *Red Country* that I was done with Abercrombie, not because he wasn’t good, but because there’s a lot of books out there and I felt I’d mostly read what he had to say. I’m revisiting that, and very curious to see what’s coming next for the Chapel of Holy Expediency.

This was my first Joe Abercrombie book that I’ve read. I’ve seen his previous works all over tiktok and I’ve added them to my TBR so when I saw his new book available to request an ARC I thought this was a great way to get introduced to him.
I love reading about a band of misfits so this was perfect. It was dark and gritty but the dialogue still makes you laugh.
I can’t wait for book 2 and to finally pick more of his books!

Abercrombie has done it yet again. Alex is a thief, she must return to her home to become empress in this epic fantasy tale. Pope Benedicta has assembled a ragtag bunch of devils to combat other devils. This was a rip roaring fast paced story. Brother Diaz leads a knight, an elderly vampire, an invisible elf among others on this quest as famind ravages Europe. The bloody battles keep you engrossed. Filled with laugh out loud moments, you will not be disappointed.

5 stars.

Thank you to Tor Books and Macmillan Publishers for the ARC.

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie.

Stories like this are why I love the fantasy genre. I've got a major book hangover and my heart feels ripped out of my chest. I laughed and laughed, and then I cried! There's so much to these characters; I love every one of them. Right when I get my physical copy, it's going on my favorites shelf.

Thank you to netgalley, tor, and the author for the e-arc to review.

A devilishly good read, The Devils is a rib-tickling, blood-soaked adventure that could very well be his best yet. If you are a fan of The First Law series, you'll feel right at home w/ this cheery lot. This is THE fantasy book to read this Summer.

What a wild ride! This was my first Joe Abercrombie read, but it won't be my last. The character work is so good that I fell in love with a bunch of monsters who kept doing terrible things. I appreciate the humor to balance some of the gore and grim topics. I wasn't expecting a werewolf to make me cry (and laugh), but here we are.

Joe Abercrombie is back with a new fantasy series to knock your socks off. The Devils is the first novel in a new series by the same name, and boy, does it start off with a bang. Everything you love about this masterful author is back with a vengeance (best-in-class characters, stunning action sequences, a riveting plot, and a world you could not pay me to live in), but we have some new elements as well. The Devils appears to take place in an alternate version of our own world, making this a strange historical fantasy mash-up. The book defies classification, but it still remains one of the top contenders for the best book of the year.

Elves. The elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh. They have boiled over the holy land, killing and eating every godly man and woman who rightfully belongs in the hallowed hills. When faced with this sort of existential threat, it is no wonder the papacy has turned to alternative soldiers to fight God’s most difficult battles while God looks the other way. While The Devils are definitely not God’s chosen favorites, they are some of his stronger soldiers.

Our story picks up during a moment of crisis in the church. There has been a split in the clergy, and the church is divided between two major sects, each propped up by a royal throne. When the lost heir of the Serpent Throne of Troy is discovered in a back alley, the papacy sees an opportunity to put them on the rival throne as a puppet and mend the sects of the church. Only together can the united church stand against the elvish crusade. Getting our lost heir onto the throne will be a difficult and harrowing journey, but such a task is nothing new for The Devils. With a brand new handler to steer them in the right direction, this chaotic group of divine rejects will make it to Troy through hell and high water.

The Devils is a very dark, grisly, and fun story that feels like Abercrombie’s take on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen meets The Suicide Squad. As always, with an Abercrombie book, I generally try to say as little as I can about the story, as his novels are always best to read without any priming. However, I will say that this is an absolutely fabulous book. Most of Abercrombie’s work feels very theme-forward; or rather, he starts with the big ideas and messages he wants to convey and then builds incredibly intricate characters around them to deliver the perfect narrative punches. The Devils has incredible commentary and themes, but it also feels like Abercrombie is having a bit more fun than usual.

The book is extremely crass as a way of both building ambiance and conveying the horrors of the world, but know going in that the general vibe is ‘gross.’ Bodily fluids are involved basically every few pages, and the dialogue is basically a constant stream of cursing. Part of this is because contextual repetition is one of the cornerstone themes of the story, and I absolutely love it. If it isn’t immediately clear what that means: Abercrombie spends the book essentially repeating dialogue, circumstance, and experiences both within characters and across multiple characters, but tweaks the context slightly each time so that a “God Damnit” has a different emphasis and meaning each time. I am absolutely sure that some readers will find this style aggravating, but I found it absolutely delightful.

As mentioned, the characters are also delightful. There are eight members of The Devils, and they each combine the best of popular classic tropes and Abercrombie’s flair for detail and depth. All of the cast exist as contradictions in their own special way, and much of the book is an exploration of the ways the world pulls them in multiple directions. There is a lot of care given to cross-group dynamics on the quest, and it is really interesting to see how each member of The Devils has a different vibe with each other member. Some pairings are romantic, some are friendships, some are rivalries, and some are genuine hatred. The result is a chemistry that is powerfully explosive. Their choices feel like they have a weighty agency, and the collective group is forced to adapt constantly as they encounter trial after trial on their deranged quest. The result is people and monsters who end the book in very emotionally different places than they started, and I am starved for more information about where their journey will take them next.

This first book in the series manages to tell an extremely self-contained story that reads like it doesn’t need any follow-up, while also simultaneously prepping the way for an exciting new chapter. Given the big theme of repetition in a new context, I wouldn’t be surprised if the sequel is doing the journey a second time, but as their new altered selves from the end of book one. Regardless of what the next story is, I can’t wait to get my hands on it. The entire thing is a Devil of a tale, and I will happily let it damn my soul.

Rating: The Devils – 10/10
-Andrew

This book is brilliant and so much fun, I feel so honored to have had the opportunity to tag-a-long with this group of dynamic and interesting misfits. Alex was my kind of princess and the way each character is written so vividly and purposefully really made this book so much more than others it didn’t just feel like a story but a fully immersed experience that I absolutely loved to the very last page. This is my first experience reading this authors work and the writing style was unique and far superior in executing an intelligent and thrilling plot than others with an underlying wit and comedic tone I found masterful. The pacing was perfection I didn’t want to put it down I was buckled in for the wild ride and loved every minute. I appreciated how the battle scenes were paired with clever banter that kept me engaged and loved how cinematic those scenes felt when reading. Really excited to read more from this author and this brilliant world with these characters I’ve grown to both love and hate. I honestly may reread it immediately it was just so much fun. Highly recommend for lovers of fantasy and supernatural creatures, this book was epic, easily a five star read for me, Truly brilliant!

Joe Abercrombie’s new novel, The Devils, is violent, chaotic, devious—and I loved every page of it. I knew when I picked it up that I was going to get high-stakes fights and superlative, gritty worldbuilding, given my experiences with other books he’s written. I wasn’t expecting the emotional depth Abercrombie developed along with the snarky banter and backstabbing. I loved this book so much that I ended up with a significant book hangover. This hasn’t happened to me in a while, but I actually had to sit with my feelings for a bit after I finished this outstanding novel.

Brother Diaz thought he was going to be given a sinecure by the Popess as a reward for fixing things for his previous boss, only to find himself in charge of the Papacy’s secret Congregation of Holy Expediency. This congregation includes a knight who cannot die, a woman who’s done a little bit of everything, a necromancer, a vampire, an elf, and a Norse werewolf. Their objective is to deliver the long-lost daughter of the deceased empress of the eastern empire to Constantinople and see her crowned. This motley crew barely makes it out of Rome before people start attacking them.

Abercrombie leavens all the blood and gore (and there is a lot of both in The Devils) with scenes of genuine comedy. Necromancer Balthazar Sham Ivam Draxi—who insists that he is a wizard, thank you very much—provides a lot of it with his constant efforts to get rid of the magical bond that prevents him from buggering off back to his library and experiments. There’s also the delightful banter from Baptiste, a woman of all trades with friends and enemies everywhere, and Vigga, a werewolf with a lust for life. I laughed and snickered along with them as they trudged down various Mediterranean roads. Vigga especially stole my heart. I worried about her every time she had to fight, even though she seems near impossible to kill.

Abercrombie is rough on his characters and, unlike a lot of other genre writers, isn’t afraid to actually maim or kill off his characters. Consequently, my heart was in my mouth every time Alexia and her escort had to square off against yet another cousin who wanted the Serpent Throne. This genuine fear for the characters plus the outstanding worldbuilding of The Devils made this one of the best fantasy books I’ve read in a long time; it’s one of the best books I’ve read in a while in any genre. I am so glad that the last chapter of the book started to set the stage for a sequel. I very much want to spend more time with these violent, lovable weirdos.